198 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [September, 



lightening the work of the operator when giving an exhibition of a 

 series of objects. The inventions of Dr. Flint attracted the close atten- 

 tion of the scientists, and his work in this direction was highly compli- 

 mented. In the discussion which followed, Dr. Thomas Taylor de- 

 scribed a simple rotary slide-carrier that he had devised for exhibiting a 

 number of objects. 



After the reading of some announcements by the secretary the meet- 

 ing adjourned. 



Wednesday Afternoon. 



In the afternoon the microscopists visited the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Work is in operation here of such vast importance that it has 

 attracted the attention of scientific men all over the world. The study 

 of animal germs is being investigated, and the very highest class of 

 work is done on the same principles as those under which Koch and 

 Pasteur are pursuing their researches in Europe. The resvilt sought to 

 be accomplished is the discovery of the cause of pleuro-pneumonia and 

 Texas fever in cattle. A steer was recently inoculated by the scientists 

 of the Depai"tment, and Texas fever produced. The men in this part 

 of the investigation think they have discovered the germ of this disease. 



Vegetable pathology is also undergoing a thorough investigation, with 

 a view of applying the proper remedies for peach yellows, rust, blights, 

 and the hundreds of other diseases that attack and destroy fruit, grain, 

 and vegetables. All this is being done through the agency of the mi- 

 croscope, and it opens up a wide field for the investigator. The De- 

 partment now has an agent in Florida investigating orange blight, 

 another in California looking into the causes of the grape disease, an- 

 other in New York applying remedies to the blights and scabs in fruit. 

 They have expert men in all parts of the country studying these diseases 

 with the aid of powerful glasses, and seeking to provide the information 

 that will stop the encroachment of these animal diseases. 



The Agricultural Department also has a microscopic division proper 

 that is making a specialty of the fibres — wool, flax, hair, hemp, wood, 

 cotton, etc. So great has been the work of this department that Dr. 

 Taylor, its chief, is in constant demand in the United States courts to 

 decide the character of fibres constituting goods, detecting the difference 

 between the wool of sheep and the hair of goats, etc. This department 

 has made wonderful strides, and all its workings proved a source of 

 useful information for the members of the Microscopical Society, who 

 spent the whole afternoon at the Department. 



Wednesday Evening. 



A special business meeting was held in the evening. The question 

 of the new constitution was referred to the executive committee with 

 power to act after the certificate of incorporation had been filed. 



A committee was appointed to nominate officers, and also to nomi- 

 nate a director of the working session of the microscopists at the World's 

 Fair. The following committee was appointed : D. S. Kellicott, S. II. 

 Gage, Robert Reyburn, W. J. Lewis, George E. Fell, J. M. Lamb, 

 and L. D. Mcintosh. 



It was decided to print 750 copies of the proceedings of the associa- 



